Each morning in Jamaica, we would venture down to The Patio Restaurant at Couples Resort for breakfast. This restaurant served fresh fruit, pastries, made-to-order omelets and pancakes, mimosas (a must every morning on vaca!) and fried plantains.

Like clock work, every morning, I’d head straight for the made-to order pancakes, then pile on the fried plantains (the proof is in the Insta photo!) I became totally obsessed with my creation of plantain pancakes and couldn’t wait to come home and make them in my own kitchen!

I’ve always been a fan of plantains, and would order them whenever they’re on the menu anywhere, but I had never actually cooked with plantains at home.

Are plantains the same as bananas?

Plantains are not the same as bananas. They’re a very starchy sister to the banana that needs to be cooked to bring out their maximum potential of deliciousness!

How to tell if a Plantain is ripe

The color of the skin determines how ripe a plantain is. The darker it gets, the sweeter it gets. I first tried to make the pancakes with the plantains you see in the ingredient image below (see two images down with the green plantains), and it did not work out well.

They just weren’t ripe enough, so I bought some more, waited a week and then they were perfect. (See image directly below ↓)

These may look like they’ve gone bad with all of the dark spots, but this is actually exactly what you want them to look like for caramelized plantains!

Most major grocery stores now carry fresh plantains, but most of them will not be ripe at the time of purchase.

Plan ahead and purchase plantains on Monday to make these delicious Plantain Pancakes for brunch on Saturday, I promise it will be well worth the wait!

Caramelized Plantain Pancakes Ingredients

1 ¼ cups flour

1 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 large egg

1 cup coconut milk

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp unsalted butter – divided (1 tbsp melted)

2 large plantains (peeled & sliced)

3 tbsp brown sugar

Caramelized Plantain Pancakes Instructions

Combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl.

Combine the egg, coconut milk, honey and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.

Thanks for sharing this great recipe!!! For better results use very ripen plantains almost dark with black spots on the skin!

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5 days ago

Hi, I'm Whitney! I’m a sports-loving, coffee-drinking, food blogger, the host of “ 29 Minute Meals”, a contributing writer for TODAY Food, cookbook author and on camera food and lifestyle expert, regularly featured on news stations across the country! On my blog, you’ll find most recipes are made in 29 minutes or less, in one pot, or in a crock pot! Learn More